StrikeForce News - Page 41

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Quoteworthy:
"We continue to have dialogue with his dad, who's his manager, and Rich [Chou], who's our matchmaker. He has a good relationship with Jake and his father, and they've done the numbers dance and they'll continue to do that until Jake makes a decision. But where he is going to end up, who really knows? At the end of the day, Jake has something he feels his value is and we feel the value is in a certain area, and there's a discrepancy there... It has nothing to do with a bidding war, it has to do with, what is the value of the fighter? And the value of the fighter, to me, is based on: does he get great TV ratings? Is he a great fighter? Does he put butts in seats? And every fighter is different. Does he have that X factor to become a superstar. So every athlete we evaluate differently, and most of the time, the fighter feels that their value is slightly higher than the promoter is willing to pay."
Scott Coker makes it clear that what Jake Shields believes he is worth to a MMA promotion, isn't quite on par with what Strikeforce values him at. Coker mentions that aspects involved in evaluating a fighter's worth for his company include how big of a draw they are, something that Shields has never been known for. These sentiments sound eerily similar to how UFC President Dana White described Dan Henderson's before he split for Coker's show. Anybody see this situation playing out differently? Or, is the coffin already nailed shut?
Thast the whole article but I posted the link anyway.

It was announced prior to Strikeforce on Wednesday night that if Renato "Babalu" Sobral defeated Robbie Lawler, he would get a shot at the light heavyweight title. The only problem with that is Babalu is close friends with and a training partner of current champion Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal.
Babalu was successful in his fight against Robbie Lawler, picking up a unanimous decision victory. But following the win, he said he won't fight his friend and called for another fight instead.
"I won't never punch and try to hurt my friends, but I would like to ask for a fight, and all the respect that I have, in the beginning of my career I fought Dan Henderson in Japan and lost to him," Babalu said.

So says Lawler in comments at last night's Strikeforce Los Angeles post-fight presser. "I wasn’t hurt, I just wanted to make him think I was. It was a ploy, a decoy, for him to fight me so I could knock him out. I’m disappointed with the result, but I have no complaints. The two takedowns in the first round may have been the difference. I know that I could have done much more. I should have done more."

We spoke with Muhammed "King Mo'" Lawal at last weekend's MMA Expo in Toronto and we asked him about the prospect of fighting friend and training partner Renato Sobral, should Babalu get past Robbie Lawler in the pair's 195-pound catchweight bout tonight, and according to the Strikeforce light heavyweight champ, the fight will likely never happen.
"The thing is, Babalu is like my brother. I knew him before I started fighting and he was actually my favorite fighter when I first started to really follow the sport," explained Lawal. "I'll fight anybody but him."
So then, the question is who will Strikeforce match him up with?

Robbie Lawler has consistently been considered one of the most dangerous middleweights in the world with the ability to put any opponent out with just one punch. But as the middleweight approaches his upcoming main event fight against Renato "Babalu" Sobral on June 16, he has decided to switch things up and travel to Arizona.
Normally a mainstay at the HIT Squad gym with longtime friend Matt Hughes, Lawler got a call from UFC middleweight Aaron Simpson, who also fights next week, asking for some help. The heavy-hitter native of California was happy to oblige.
"Well, I got an opportunity. One of the fighters I'm training with is fighting a southpaw, so he called me and was like 'hey can you come out?' And I'm like, ‘yeah, you guys got a lot of good wrestlers.’ Went out there, these guys work very hard," Lawler said about his training camp.

News hit last week that top heavyweight star and former Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko had his eyes on a seat in the Russian Parliament that would soon bring an end to his mixed martial arts career. Despite a lot of heavyweights breathing a sigh of relief that Fedor could be gone soon, the report is false and the Stary Oskul native will still be reap havoc in the MMA world for the foreseeable future.
Fedor's involvement in the political machine in Russia is true, although according to M-1 Global's Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan, news of his retirement is completely overstated.
Kogan broke down Fedor's nomination to go to the Russian Parliament for his region in Russia, and how he didn't actually volunteer himself to get involved.

Fedor Emelianenko, Strikeforce, and M-1 Global may be headed to pay-per-view.
With Fedor's next fight in the United States just two weeks away, everyone is already curious about when he might fight again or what the status is between Strikeforce and M-1 Global. For now there's at least one more fight planned, and it's likely to end up on pay-per-view.
That's the word from M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan, who spoke with MMAWeekly on Tuesday about the company's plans for Fedor and Strikeforce.
"Following this fight now we have one more fight on the cards," Kogan said. "That's the future for now, there's one more fight following the June 26 fight and that fight is more likely than not on pay-per-view."
Of course M-1 Global promotes several fighters, but one thing is guaranteed when and if that pay-per-view happens. Fedor Emelianenko will be leading the charge.
"That is a fight for Fedor that is co-promotion by M-1 Global and Strikeforce," Kogan stated.
Fedor's primary focus right now is on Fabricio Werdum and their fight on June 26, but a title shot against Alistair Overeem could be just the pay-per-view draw that Strikeforce and M-1 Global could be looking for. The only question right now is timing, and Kogan says he can't guarantee anything like that right now.
"It depends on what happens during this fight. It depends on health issues, and whatever else following this fight. It depends also by other factors, so I don't want to tell you something and not have it happen," said Kogan. "It's possible, it's not unlikely, but I wouldn't say I'd guarantee that it happens in 2010."

Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral says he will be staying at middleweight for the foreseeable future, although he does not rule out a return to light-heavyweight or even heavyweight at some point if the right fights are offered. Sobral has fought at heavyweight in the past and once clashed with Fedor Emelianenko in his pre-PRIDE days.

Strikeforce now seems to have the Cavalcante market cornered with it's latest signing-former top Lightweight Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante has signed a 1-year, 4 fight deal with the promotion. Cavalcante, who turns 27 today, is 14-3-1 in his career but has struggled with knee injuries thorughout his career, but word is he's now completely healthy. He's hoping to make his SF debut on August 21.

As has become customary, UFC is once again airing counterprogramming on Spike against a live Strikeforce event. UFC's latest move is a replay of UFC 113 on June 26 at 9 PM ET, featuring the rematch of Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. SF's live event begins at 10 PM ET on the 26th. In addition to Machida vs. Rua II, the replay of UFC 113, which took place at Montreal's Bell Centre, features bouts such as Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson vs. Matt Mitrione, Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens, Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor, Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet and Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is "tossing around numbers" with the manager of his current middleweight champion, Jake Shields, but he will not get into a bidding war for the fighter's services. "If it works out (with Shields), great," Coker said. "If not, Strikeforce has a bunch of great middleweights, and we'll go into the tournament business. We're still fleshing out the details, but we're leaning toward that." Shields' manager and father, Jack Shields, today opened the door to non-exclusive negotiations – known as the "matching period" on a fight contract – after the fighter's exclusive negotiation period with Strikeforce expired earlier this week. If the two sides can't strike a deal on a new contract, said tournament could start on August 21 as an 8-man tournament with the winner becoming the new champion.

The next installment of Strikeforce's prospects-driven "Challengers" series is slated for July 23, and a title fight could be part of the night's Showtime broadcast. Although it's not yet official, SF is working to make a title fight of Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman vs. Roxanne Modafferi for the event.

Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields' exclusive negotiation period with the San Jose, Calif.-based promotion has expired, though negotiations with the company remain ongoing.
Shields' manager and father, Jack Shields, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he will begin non-exclusive negotiations tomorrow.
"The options are all good," Jack Shields said, though he did not confirm whether Strikeforce had yet offered a new contract.

KJ Noons won't get his Charles Bennett rematch after all. Noons has confirmed that Bennett is now off the 6/26 Strikeforce LA card for undisclosed reasons. Bennett was previously booked to appear opposite Luis Palomino at the "Rock-N-Rumble III" event tomorrow night (June 4) in Hollywood, FL; however, neither promotion was immediately available for comment on Bennett's status. Conor Heun is the replacement and there are reports the fight has now been moved up to the 6/16 event.

Strikeforce and M-1 Global's co-promotion relationship won't end with just Fedor Emelianenko. M-1 Global officials announced late Wednesday night that six-time M-1 Challenge veteran Magomed Shikshabekov will fight in the U.S. for the first time when he meets Ron Keslar at "Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum." The bout is expected for the unaired preliminary portion of the card, though Strikeforce has yet to officially announce the matchup. Shikshabekov's six M-1 Global fights have all ended by first-round stoppage, including three bouts that have ended in the opening minute. More M-1 Global fighters likely will be added to the card soon.

Although an official announcement hasn't been made yet, Strikeforce has confirmed Scott Smith vs. Cung Le for the 6/26 SF/M-1 Global event. Additionally, SF has announced that Josh Thomson will face Pat Healy, who will be replacing Thomson's original opponent, Lyle Beerbohm.

A proposed Lyle Beerbohm vs. Josh Thomson fight for one of Strikeforce's upcoming June events will not happen. Beerbohm's manager said he won't be able to fight due to an elbow injury suffered against Vitor Ribeiro in April. No word yet on if Thomson will get a replacement opponent, and SF says Beerbohm will get a TV fight when he returns.

White told UFC fans today that he's still interested in Diaz, the older brother of current UFC lightweight Nate Diaz, just hours before the brash welterweight headlines DREAM.14 in Japan against Hayato Sakurai.
"I like Nick Diaz, and I've talked to Nick Diaz many times about coming back to the UFC," White said during a keynote speech at UFC Fan Expo 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
But there are conditions to White's interest – to say nothing of the Strikeforce contract Diaz currently holds.
"The problem with Nick Diaz is that he won't even play the game this much," White said. "You can't be crazy all the time."